Kept me waiting
by Hetaliawall
Summary: When Alice meets Francis she assumes that he is an annoying prick, however she is proven wrong as soon they are married. This is the story of how their life together unfolds with many struggles and obstacles along the way. (FACES family later on)
1. Chapter 1

"Why did you keep me waiting?"

Alice stared with a sly smile at her boyfriend and now fiancé as he held up the shining ring towards her. This was obviously not the reaction he had been expecting for he looked perplexed, which was a good thing. She had to keep him on his toes after all, otherwise things would become dull, and they couldn't have that.

"Of course I will marry you, why wouldn't I? It's not like anyone else is here offering me a ring."

The Frenchman stared up at her with a wide smile and eyes that matched, used to her wit and sarcasm by now. He simply slid the ring onto her finger tenderly before kissing her lovingly under the stars of the secluded park, a spot that he had planned out to the very last petal falling from the trees above them which made the lovely appearance of snow. He was just a hopeless romantic like that.

The circumstances of their meeting were strange to say the least. She was a nurse, just starting out in a London hospital and he was on vacation in England, where he had gotten so amazingly drunk that his friends were worried and took him to the ER. When he had finally stopped puking and sobered up, he started to flirt with her, and after hours of begging she finally gave him her number, just to shut him up long enough to do some lab work. After he was discharged he began to call her relentlessly until she gave in again and agreed to go on "one" date. To her surprise he was not terrible company all together and she even found that she had a good time.

After that day he took her out on dates around the city, and even when he went back to Paris they somehow kept up a long distance relationship. He was crude, flirtatious, and obnoxiously romantic, but he was the only man who was ever patient with her, and stuck with her through their arguments. Even when she was yelling at him he remained as calm as ever and was quick to heal the rift between them with a kiss, or when they were in separate cities, a loving picture sent through email, usually some nice artwork or a book cover he thought she might like. Why he stuck with her those first few months of arguing Alice had no idea but a part of her would forever be grateful that he did. Finally, their arguments ceased and only turned into debates, with neither of them getting angry or upset, or at least she did not get mad. It was comforting, to have someone like that in her life. Alice soon realized that she loved this, she loved how patient he was with her, she loved how he didn't leave her even when she probably deserved it, and finally she slowly realized something.

She loved him.

Of course, the rest was history, with her now having her veil and white dress fussed over by her Hungarian friend Elizebeta, Mika, her Japanese friend, and of course her brother was there to give her away since there was a lack of father or mother in the family. The church was non-denominational since she couldn't figure out if she was Protestant or Catholic anymore.

"Oh you look so cute Alice!"

"Ja! Very cute!"

Alice flushed a tad as she gazed at herself in the mirror, her friends behind her in blue dresses that her more fashionable friends had picked out for themselves. Alice's hair was up in an elaborate braid riddled with hair pins that had crystals and pearls on them by the insistence of her friends. Her dress in comparison was more elegantly simple with just off the shoulder sleeves and an A-line skirt. She was not a fashionista by any means, but she picked up on this terminology when people would persistently ask her what style her dress was in and she never had an answer, and trying to describe it was horrific when it came to her friends that were much more fashionably inclined.

Now that she was finally ready Alice awaited the sound of the brides march.

She waited.

By thirty minutes she was worried.

By the time an hour went by she was ready to kill him.

Finally the bridal march played and she "walked" to the alter; it was more of a warpath.

Francis was there, looking a bit scared with his two friends behind him, almost cowering behind him in dirty suits.

They stood in front of the priest and he cleared his throat as he looked at the annoyed bride and the apologetic groom. Luckily in that short walk Alice had managed to blow off most of her steam, and was now only looking for an explanation.

She had been worried.

A part of her had believed that Francis had finally left her, but now that she could see him there she could be properly annoyed.

"….Should I wait to begin?'

"Ahem….Oui….Alice…Don't kill me, but I might have been trying to find a new…set of rings…. because I lost them at our bachelor's party…"

Alice looked at his two friends and they waved nervously, obviously in fear of her wrath, they couldn't read her moods like Francis could.

"…..Our bad…."

Alice took a deep breath to slowly calm down a bit more and looked at the men.

"….How did you lose the rings?"

Francis rubbed the back of his head awkwardly, looking extremely worried, possibly in fear for the wedding, or worse, lack thereof.

"…..Well….It involved a pig-"

"Let's just get on with the ceremony before Francis faints."

Francis gave her a relieved look as the pastor (also looking very much relieved) began.

After that the shaky start ceremony was short and sweet and Alice had to resist the urge to sneeze throughout it all, the perfume of a ridiculous amount of red roses assaulting her nose. Somehow they had found two new rings that were exactly the same as the last and they were able to exchange them as Francis eventually stopped looking so deathly pale. Finally after the sealing kiss was made they were released to the reception to go get drunk before the honeymoon, something Francis could use to steel his nerves after that stressful morning.  
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The bright sun shone down on Alice as she rested with her new husband, watching through sunglasses as he applied suntan lotion. Around them the sea lolled peacefully, and seagulls cawed to each other above them, obviously coordinating an attack on some poor beach goer's picnic lunch.

This island in the pacific was beautiful, the perfect destination for people who were used too much milder climates such as London and Paris. Alice didn't think she had ever experienced this much sun, certainly not in England where it rained constantly. Therefore she had a large tube of sunscreen resting beside her on the sand of the beach to cover the areas that her one piece swimsuit didn't, she didn't relish the idea of being burnt to a crisp, her husband on the other hand….

"Francis…..Why are you putting on suntan lotion?"

The Frenchman looked at his new wife and showed her the bottle with a triumphant flair. Alice regarded it critically and quirked an eyebrow at the cheerfully smiling sun with sunglasses that the company had decided to use for the cover. A very poor decision if you asked her.

"I would just die if I did not at least try to get a tan while we are here, I don't intend upon looking like I spend all my time indoors with my nose between a book…"

That sly comment was obviously directed towards her as she was predictably pulling a book out of her waterproof bag. She could only roll her eyes at him, feeling a sense of foreboding as the smiling sun seemed to stare at her, mocking her for her prudence at putting on sunscreen.

"Watch it you, another crack like that and I will be forced to throw away your tanning lotion."

"You wouldn't dare."

"Mhm you don't know what I will or will not do."

"I would _love_ to find out."

The comment was said in such a way that made a rosy tint rise to Alice's cheeks and she literally buried her nose within the pages of her book.

" _Francis!"_

Her new husband only laughed at her discomfort and held her close to him as they passed the day under the sun. There was no one else on the beach really and it was nice having the area to themselves, meaning that Francis could steal a kiss every now and then without Alice dying from embarrassment. Throughout the day they had a picnic, Francis insisted on going in the water with her, making her utterly soaked of course and just when she was about to kill him they took a walk down the beach as he collected seashells that he thought he could use to make necklaces.

By the time they went back to their suite Alice was exhausted but also glad to have had such a pleasant day, without even a single argument. Peaceful tropical islands mellowed out even her it seemed, even though they had a rather good track record by this point in their relationship.

The next morning was rainy, but the sun had done its job already. Alice sat on the bed that morning lathered aloe on her pitifully red husband. She had tried to warn him…..

"Francis….We are white, we don't tan…."

"But the bottle sAiD- OWWWW!"

Alice winced as her hands went over a practically burnt part on his back. He was about the shade of the lobster that they had eaten the night before, and the only part of him that was not red was the area covered by his swim shorts.

"…Sorry love. Now all there is to do is just wait for the old skin to fall off."

"….As in peel away...That will look hideous!"

Alice sighed as she stared at her terror stricken husband, this would be her life now. She found that instead of being annoyed, she felt a sense of duty almost. Francis needed someone to balance him out, and make sure he did not try to cover up a peeling sunburn with foundation to preserve his appearance.

"If it will make you feel better we can stay in the hotel for a bit, but it won't be that big of a deal. Don't be a primadonna love.""

"….I suppose so mon cher. At least let me hold you while I subjected to this torture…."

Alice rolled her eyes at his dramatics but did as asked, letting him hug her, even though it hurt him too touch her with his red arms by the grimace he made. Despite this, he seemed happy. They sat there on the bed for a few moments, Francis happy to just hold her and stroke her hair a bit, it was like soft gold.

"….Francis what does losing the wedding rings have to do with a pig?"

Under all of the redness she could have sworn she saw him turn pale, as if she had spoken of a great monster. Even his hand halted on its trip down her hair.

"….Let's not speak of it."

Somehow after a day she finally managed to coax him out of the hotel room and back out into the island. Of course this time he wore a wide brimmed hat, sunglasses, sunscreen and she only just managed to keep him from putting on pants and a long sleeved shirt.

"Francis, sunscreen will be enough, I don't want you getting burned again but I also do not want to have to carry you to a hospital when you collapse from heatstroke.

"….At least then I would not look like a stop sign…"

Alice quirked an eyebrow and he sighed, shrugging off the pants.

"Then we are going to a restaurant that has a _roof_ and real wine, not that cheap stuff that the last place we went to served. "

"Fair enough, but I thought the wine was fine."

"That's my proof; you have no taste when it comes to fine wine."

Alice rolled her eyes and only sighed as he laughed at her annoyed expression and pecked her lips sweetly.

"You look so cute when you are annoyed."

Alice only frowned more, prompting him to wrap his peeling arms around her and draw her in to nestle his nose into her neck.

"You love me."

"….."

"Come on, you know you love me mon cher."

"…..Your nose is pointy. Also, we are going to be late for dinner."

Francis just laughed and wiggled his nose like a bunny, feeling satisfied when a small laugh escaped from her lips.

"And you are ticklish."

A few more wiggles of his nose and Alice had no other option but to smile, even if it was a small one by most standards, but when it came from Alice it might as well have been a wide smile.

"Oh alright I don't drink a lot of "fine wine", so no, I do not know that the wine at the other place was cheap. Now will you stop tickling me with your nose?! It's undignified.."

Francis laughs softly and wiggles his nose a bit more for another laugh and then kissed her neck quickly, just enough to make her flush, which was just as amusing as making her laugh.

"Alright, I am finally done mon cher."

This was the start of their life together, and it would only get more complicated as they went along, but at least Alice knew that she could count on Francis and his annoyingly pointy nose.


	2. Chapter 2

A few weeks into their new "domestic bliss" found Alice calmly chopping onions as her new husband pranced around the kitchen, only letting her do tasks like this since she had a tendency to burn everything she touched. It seemed only tea was immune to this curse.

Alice was actually grateful for this mediocre task today for she had a rather big announcement and she had to figure out a way to tell him so that he would not faint, scream, or both. Finally after a long time of pondering she just decided to say it, prepared to catch him if he fell, which she figured would be a likely result of her news.

"Francis?"

"Oui?"

Alice kept him in the corner of her eyes as she calmly changed their world as they knew it with two words.

"I'm pregnant."

Francis stopped where he was working on the beef and slowly turned to her, reverting back to French in his startled state. He looked like a deer caught in the headlights with his wide eyes and almost comically startled expression.

"….Quoi?...Votre est…..QUOI?!"

Alice continued to calmly chop onions as he set down his spatula shakily and walked over to her, staring at her stomach as if it would somehow already be showing a bulge. On the positive side, he had not fainted within the first few seconds of her telling him the news, which was a far better response than she had hoped for.

"I said that I'm pregnant, although I have no idea what you said, you know I don't speak French."

"Alice…..Set down the knife…."

"What? Why? Francis are you o-"

Alice couldn't finish her questioning as Francis suddenly seized her from behind and hugged her before whirling her around and kissing her suddenly and fervently, the previously carefully attended meat smoking in the process. When they were finally done with that step Alice showed him the picture of the pregnancy test and assured him that she had tried several different ones, before he rushed to the rescue of the already blackened beef.

Francis acted like he couldn't have been happier than if she had given him the moon, the whole next week he pranced about telling anyone who would listen that they were going to have a baby. He was constantly asking her questions and planning out the nursery, clothes, names and every aspect of the baby that was forming in her stomach. At some point she caught him looking up preschools, and on the other tabs of the laptop, reputable colleges close to home, or rather their new one out of the small city apartment that they were nearly set to move into once the baby arrived. It was rather endearing to have such an enthusiastic husband, (only mildly annoying at points), and as the weeks went by he was on top of every single thing, making her food that was supposed to help with the baby's development, tea that had the same effect and even some ridiculous old wives remedies….It was almost tiring to watch.

By the time her bulge was (finally) showing they were ready to make the nursery, and even though they did not know the gender they both agreed that yellow was the perfect color for both genders, as they did not want their son or daughter to grow up with only blue or pink themed things. After all, Alice preferred blue herself and Francis was known to wear "salmon" colored items on occasion. In the nursery Alice worked on painting the walls with Francis and she could not help but to notice the differences between them. While she worked in long, business like strokes just to get the job done he worked with small strokes as if each one were to go on a painting at a famous art museum, his face was twisted up into a grimace of concentration.

"Have you been working on that same area of the wall this entire time?"

Francis looked at her startled out of his "serious work of art". He smiled sheepishly as he noticed that she was already half done, while he had been working on the small area beside the door.

"Well….It must be perfect, non?"

"If you say so…."

Francis just laughed softly, as if he was amused that she didn't grasp the seriousness of their task.

"Of course it must be perfect! The first thing they will see of their home for the next eighteen years is this room! So therefore, it must be perfect, to greet them."

"If you say so love…I'd just rather finish up and get some food…"

Francis only laughed with his trademark chortle and set back to his task. Once the whole project was done they sat down beside the crib, his arms around her and on the bulge as he had taken to doing recently, something about "presence to the babies."….She must have married a looney, but the baby stopped kicking as much whenever he did so she was not complaining about it yet.

"I can't wait for the day when my arms won't even go all the way around your belly. Wont that be wonderful?"

Alice shrugged and rested her head back on his shoulder, a nice prop for a tired neck.

"If it means being closer to delivery, then yes, that would be nice. I'm only... Oh…sixteen weeks?...I can't bloody remember."

Francis chuckled softly and leaned his head over his shoulder so he could look at her stomach as he rubbed it comfortingly.

"You are exactly sixteen and a half weeks, and you are very tired, I can tell…When the baby comes out you get to sleep in for all your hard work, it's the least I can do since I can't carry the baby for you."

"Well let's hope you can't carry the baby, otherwise this would be very confusing."

Francs laughed once again, even though she did not think her joke was even that funny. When he was done laughing he glanced towards her, smiling sweetly.

"You're not worried, are you?"

Alice huffs softly as if the idea were ridiculous and nestled into his arms so she would be more comfortable. From her angle she could hear his soft breaths; it would have been relaxing, if it were not for the paint fumes.

"Of course I'm not, are you?"

"Non, but you're lying."

"…..Curse you."

Francis smirked softly and then kissed the tip of her head before mumbling into her hair.

"Why are you nervous mon petite lapin?"

"Why do you think? My parents were killed before I could even speak, and my brothers raised me…My childhood was a bloody wreak."

Francis turned her head so he could not see her face which was red with a bit of anger, her brothers…She loved them (sometimes), but they couldn't raise her properly.

"….Alice you will be a wonderful mother, you do not have to worry about that."

"How can you know? Also, children hate me. Why do you think I was reassigned away from the pediatric ward?"

"Mon amour, children do not _hate_ you, you are just strict with them. If they do not grow up with someone strict in their life then they are merely confused by your demeanor, it does not mean they hate you."

Alice sighed and held her hand over her stomach pensively.

"Are you just trying to make me feel better, or do you mean that?"

"I mean it mon amour. They will love you."

"….Thank you, even if that is hopeful..."

Francis sighs softly, about to rebuke her remark and then blinks as if shocked, his hands resting on either side of her stomach.  
"….I think we should go look at the ultrasound…"

"What? Why? I already got one and we couldn't see a thing, the next isn't due for the next couple of weeks."

"But I felt a kick."

"Yes, that's normal lo-"

"On both sides. There were two kicks on opposite sides."

"That's…Well one could have been its head."

"I'm telling you, I felt two kicks!"

"I…Oh alright, fine, we can go get another ultrasound."

"Francis, what does it look like?"

"Francis? Francis? Hello? Talk to me, I can't exactly _see_ from where I am."

Alice sighed as the chilly gel from the ultrasound made her shiver once again as she rested back on the examination seat, the ultrasound turned towards the doctor and her husband and that angle was annoying her to no end. All she was seeing was the back of the machine and Francis's blubbering face. She had gone to get another ultrasound at _his_ request, and now he wasn't even talking to her. Also, the sterile smell of the doctor's office was making her feel queasy again, she _thought_ that she was done with morning sickness by this point.

"Doctor I think my husband lost his brain when he came through the door, can you tell me what's wrong? Also hand me a bucket _right_ now…"

The kindly doctor just laughed heartily and clasped Francis on the shoulder as he continued to stare with wide eyes at the ultrasound picture.

"Don't mind him, he's just trying to….Ahem…Figure out the ultrasounds. Oh, and here. "

"And _what_ is it? It's hard to see from where I am!...Can I get some air?"

Alice held the bucket before her, looking a tad green.

"Well…Mrs. Bonnefoy….How do you feel about twins?"

In response Alice retched rather undignified while a horrified nurse in training stood watch, knowing exactly who would have to wash out the bucket.

Alice strained and furrowed her brow, determination coursing through her veins. She could do this, she had to. She worked hard and finally, she succeeded. The small black ballet flat finally slid onto her foot and she rested both feet upon the floor in triumph. They said that they wouldn't be able to get her shoes on by herself this late into the pregnancy, but obviously they had not met someone as stubborn as herself, the pregnancy only helping to enhance that aspect.

Alice was still in her nightgown with only a coat, and now her shoes, but the babies were demanding dumplings, and what the babies wanted the babies got. At this point it was no use to try and quell her cravings; it only made her incredibly cranky, something neither of them want to happen, or else it might result in another pickle accident…

"Alice…..Mon cher…It's three in the morning…."

Alice turned towards Francis, whom looked ready to fall asleep standing up. His hair was sticking up in odd spots that resembled a hedgehog, and this had been going on for a couple days when in her third trimester she had been constantly awoken with intense cravings, and he had been asked to help ease these. Tonight was no different as she walked, or more like waddled over to him, her large stomach making a barrier as she stood in front of her exhausted husband.

"The babies want dumplings."

"Mon cher….Can't the babies wait till mornings….Its three AM!"

Alice shrugged, wide awake as Baby A kicked her stomach, as if in protest to the concept of waiting.

"No."

"I….D'accord, d'accord…Just…Let me grab my coat…Mon dieu. This is worse than that time I had to fight that woman over the last jar of pickles for you…"

His mind seemed to flash back to that accident, and Alice sighed softly at her own memory of the story. On one of her nightly cravings she had sent him out to get a jar of pickles at midnight, when the stores were about to close. (That hour seemed tame now.) There an elderly woman was about to buy the last jar and even though he was polite…Things happened. Things that involved a cane, a broken jar of pickles, a tub of butter and ultimately ended up with Francis getting banned from the store and having to walk home empty handed and with butter stuck in his hair.

For another round of this insanity Alice waited for him impatiently by the door and together they set out, hand in hand through the bitterly cold streets of London. The cold air seemed to wake him up more as they walked along in their pj's. He even managed a sleepy smile towards her and her enlarged stomach.

"How much longer now mon cher?"

"Only two weeks, if they don't come early as some twins do."

Francis finally beamed at her, still staring at her large belly as they walked down the streets to find a restaurant that might still be open at this unholy hour.

"I wish they could come early, making a man wait for nine months to meet his children is just torture…"

"At least you don't have to haul them around in your belly, if I get kicked one more time in the middle of the night I will scream, or name one Albert."

Francis gasped and nearly stopped in the middle of the road.

"You must not subject a child to such torture! _Albert!_ What an awful name…"

"What's wrong with that name?"

Francis looked her in the eyes, utterly serious.

"Everything….."

Alice huffed softly as they left the street and entered the Chinatown district of London. Even when she was annoyed she looked "adorable" according to him.

"There is nothing wrong with the name Albert…..Ah look, there's an open restaurant!"

Alice pointed out the dim lights of a restaurant and they approached it together, Alice nearly dragging him along in her new frenzy. Inside the dank restaurant an elderly Chinese woman was chopping away at veggies while a chicken clucked around her feet, looking for scraps of food that fell as the elderly woman wielded the large knife. It was amazing that she did not chop her fingers along with the wilted cabbage since the "restaurant" was so poorly lit. Alice stared at the menu in the window as Francis stared in horror at the small restaurant itself, it was fit to be a hovel in a play about peasants… Peasants with large knives.

"Mon cher….There is a chicken….an actual chicken….In the restaurant...It's just….Walking around, inside…It's getting its feet on the rice..."

Alice finished surveying the menu and shrugs, walking into the restaurant with an almost desperate step.

"Good, then the food is fresh, I wonder if the woman would kill that chicken for us…"

Alice watched as Francis could only stare and mutter to himself quietly, (not loudly if he wanted to avoid a pregnant woman's wrath,), and he seemed to be contemplating the sanity of said women.

Alice walked inside the dingy restaurant and caught a bit of what he was muttering to himself before making her way to the women to order.

"There's a chicken in the kitchen…And we are eating here….In our pjs…At three in the morning… _Dieu sil vous plait aide nous…_ "

Francis shook his head after that short prayer, gave up on any form of dignity, and went inside to sit with his wife. After two bowls of dumplings which were the least dubious items in the restaurant, some herbal tea that the elderly women insisted would help with the babies and they left, to go back to sleep until he left for work.

Alice stitched onto some towels delicately, slowly forming in the shape of planes and bears. As she worked the wind outside blasted against the door as the radio droned on about the conditions of the blizzard. Ever since they had moved out of the city the weather had been worse, and that was saying something about England. This was a bit much however, even for a woman who was born there.

"Francis? How's the hot tea coming along? It's getting nippy in here!"

"Just one more second mon cher!"

Alice nods her approval and then huffs a bit confused. Something was going on with the babies. She tried to ignore it but then came the tale tell signs. She was annoyed.

Francis stirred away at the tea in the kitchen until he nearly jumped out of his skin hearing his wife yelling.

"YOU TWO COULDN'T HAVE WAITED UNTIL TOMORROW?! BLOODY HECK YOU TWO ARE THE WORST FOR TIMING!"

Francis laughs softly to himself, she must be in another one of her strange moods. He poured out the tea and went into the living room, stunned to see Alice hustling about and breathing heavily, one hand on her stomach.

"The babies are coming Francis! I FELT A CONTRACTION SO MOVE."

"Oh the….the…THE BABIES ARE COMING NOW?"

Francis set down the tea cups hastily before he dropped them and stared outside at the snow, it was so thick he could barely see through it to the road outside.

"Are you sure?!"

"I'm a bloody _nurse_ of course I'm sure! Now _move_! There is no way I am waiting here for the later contractions, not in this weather!"

Francis nods hurriedly and hurried about with her, grabbing prepacked bags and making phone calls to friends as quick as possible before setting out into the freak blizzard.

Alice ran as fast as humanly possible to the passenger side of the car and rubs her belly, taking deep and slow breaths. The first contraction hurt immensely and she was not looking forwards to the next one, it was worse than any cramp she had ever felt before. However she had the hope that it would take a while for the next one to happen since it was her first time delivering. Francis ran to the other side and slid inside, fumbling with his keys until he finally started the car and took off.

They sped through the blizzard but Francis could barely see through the window shield. The hospital was over an hour away from their new house in the outskirts of the city, and the snow was making it hard to speed through the road.

"It's the next right…"

"Where is the next right?!"

Alice yelps as a harsh contraction hit her, only thirty minutes later. The blood drained from Alice's face, from the pain but also the short time between contractions.

"THERE! AGH FRANCIS GO. "

Francis jolts beside her and drags the wheel to the right, only to find their way blocked by a large truck that had overturned and was now an effective barrier.

"Now what mon cher? Is there another way there?!"

Alice shook her head, pale enough to match Francis's knuckles on the steering wheel.

"No, the other way in is too long and they are coming Francis….AGH WHY ARE THEY SO FAST?! Oh something must be wrong, THAT WAS ONLY THIRTY MINUTES! "

Francis stared at her as she was gripping the seatbelt, sweating and looking ready to scream again.

"O-ok, where then!?"

Alice looked around frantically and then saw an ambulance at a small run down restaurant on the side of the road.

"There!"

"But…Mon cher that place isn't-"

"I DON'T CARE PULL OVER!"

Francis jolts and nods hurriedly, pulling over since they were truly out of options. He hurried out into the snow and helped her into the restaurant, looking like an utter madman as they busted through the door of the restaurant. They were greeted by a small party of peoples who turned and stared as Alice finally gave into the contractions and fell down, rather than letting herself lower down as hoped.

"SIL VOU PLAIT AIDE NOUS!"

Francis was looking around the room wildly until the two paramedics rushed to Alice's side and she began the lengthy process of labor, with the crowd behind them shouting out helpful tips as they crowded around them, one elderly women with a Russian accent insisted upon lard and a chickens foot….

As Alice was attended by the paramedics Francis had his back turned from the watching crowd behind them and tried to coach her through it.

"It's ok, just breathe, and just push."

Alice stares at him exasperated her face red and sweating...

"What do you THINK I'm doing! Just! AGH!"

Alice squeezed his hand with such a force that Francis nearly paled and she had to led him continue in his little speech. He helped, or at least attempted to, coach her more through the process as the elderly Russian women behind them muttered in her native tongue and kept on knitting new baby hats.

By the time it was all over and Alice gave the final push with a loud and a rather explicit yell, the elderly women handed over two blue wool hats and muttered something about the babies being warm and protected from evil fairies…How she knew the gender they didn't know. In all it only took her five hours, she was fairly sure that it had to be a record of some sort.

Alice was resting up as two cries filled the space where there had been explicit cursing and screaming. The paramedics handed them each a bundle wrapped up in orange shock blankest and Francis just stared down at the faces that peeked out from them, red and excessively loud, as if both competing for who could be heard by the world first.

The baby in his arms was much quieter than his brother but was still howling his red and chubby head off, a good sign that made the elderly Russian women mutter some approval.

"Da. Good lungs, good lungs, both of them."

Alice smiled as she held the louder brother and rested her head against Francis's shoulder, her mood much milder now the she did not have two babies scrambling to come out at once.

"This one is Alfred, I know he's baby A since he's making so much more noise. He was always the one that kicked me the most."

"Then this one is Matthew…."

Francis stared down at their news boys and his lips quivered just a bit, something Alice caught on and raised a calm eyebrow.

"You're not going to cry are you?"  
"Non, of course not….."

He lied.


	3. Chapter 3

"ALFRED F. JONES, YOUNG MAN COME IN HERE THIS INSTANT."

 _Ten years before_

Their new life with the babies was very….Interesting, to say the least. Of course she loved them, they both did, but hours of crying would wear _anyone_ down. On one of the more difficult days they ended up falling asleep on the bathroom floor together, only to wake up to the twins patting their heads, as if annoyed by them leaving their post as caregivers, even if it was to sleep. It's not like you need sleep when you are new parents, most learn to go without it anyway.

After that, they figured things out.

Crying was silenced in only a few minutes and soon they found themselves giving advice to new parents. Now at ten years later the boys were active, adventurous…and always getting into trouble.

 _Present day_

"…Yeah mom?"

Alice crossed her arms and looked at her son calmly as he tried to look at his feet to avoid her all-knowing gaze that was rumored by the other schoolchildren to be able to stare into a human soul…The perfect weapon that a mother used to get the truth.

"Would you like to explain to me why there is currently a dog in my bedroom, and why said dog has chewed up the pillows and ruined the carpet?"

"…..I didn't do it….."

"Alfred, your brother is with your father at the grocery store, who else could have brought in a dog?"

Alfred looked up at his mother and tried to give her a wide, innocent smile, one that seemed to say " _I'm perfectly innocent, I couldn't have_ possibly _done this"_ ….She was not fooled.

"Alfred, you know that lying doesn't work on me, remember what I told you last week?"

Alfred knew his trick was up and looked down at his feet, already sulking.

"That you had eyes in the back of your head…."

Alice nods and kneels down so that she could look him in the eyes.

"Exactly, now then, what is the truth Alfred?"

"….But….It looked hungry! I had to bring it in or else it would have _starved_! Come _on_ mom! "

Alice sighed and rubbed her temples, her son thought of himself as a modern Robin Hood, doing bad things for the sake of the "greater good" such as bringing in random animals, giving strangers his lunch food and even going into stranger's houses to chat. While it was a good trait to have such kindness, his oblivious courage was worrying for a mother, especially for a mother like Alice.

"Alfred, while that is very sweet that dog probably already has a family and was just walking around."

"B-but he doesn't have a collar! We _have_ to keep him- I mean please mom, can we keep him?!"

Alfred finally looked at her with wide begging eyes full of innocence and it took all of Alice's resolve to not coddle him.

"I….Alfred, no. We cannot keep a dog, we have no room for a dog I-"

Much to her relief, the Calvary arrived in the form of Francis coming inside carrying many bags, with the other son Matthew toting around one bag that was nearly the size of him, stuffed to the brim with vegetables.

"Ah, Francis, explain why we cannot have a dog."

"Hmm? A dog?...What is going on?"

Alice hurriedly explained and in the meantime sent Alfred to his room while they put away groceries.

"And so I told him that we can't have a dog but every time we do this he just goes out and "rescues" some other animal, I don't know what to do with him."

"Come on Alice, let's just see the culprit."

Alice huffed and puts away the last can of green beans and then took Francis into their room. On the bed sat the culprit himself, a small blond Labrador dog that was fluffy enough to be used as a mop, and might have been considering the fact that his coat was filthy and even had some rouge leaves stuck in the fur.  
"…..Well it is very cute…"

" _Francis!_ Whose side are you on?"

"Your side, your side mon cher! All I said was that he was very cute, that's all! I meant no treason your _highness_."

Alice sighed softly as Francis smirked at his own jest that he used when she was acting too much like a "tyrannical queen" as he put it.

"I'm not acting like a queen, I'm just…..Ahh, can we just focus on the fact that this pup has ruined our pillows?"

That certainly got his attention.

" _AUGH!_ NOT OUR SILK PILLOWS!"

Alice winced at his startled screech and nods as Francis nearly ran to inspect his poor pillows.

"Yes, they're ruined. What do you suggest that we do about this?"

"I….I have an idea."

Francis looked at her, calmed down now that he seemed to have found a way to stitch up the holes in the seams of the pillows. He put aside the pillow that he had been inspecting and looked at her with a sly grin that made her automatically not like his idea.

She was right.

She didn't like his idea.

However, since she could not think of any alternative, she was stuck with the idea.

Unfortunately.

"Alfred. Come in here."

Alfred peered around the corner, worried about being summoned from his room. He had assumed that being grounded to his room was his punishment, but the fact that Alice was calling him meant that it was not his true punishment, and he could only worry about what it truly was.

"Yeah mom?"

Alice stood in front of him, with Francis beside her and smiling as usual.

"We have decided….." Here she let out a sigh.

"We have decided that you may keep this dog…."

Alfred stared at her and abruptly began to jump enthusiastically, looking like a bird trying to take off for flight.

"REALLY?! AGH MOM YOU'RE SO COOL!"

Alice nodded dejectedly as the dog ran to Alfred and the giddy boy hugged it tightly, utter joy on his face as the dog licked his face in with a wet sloppy tongue, but of course Alfred didn't seem to mind.

"Yes, you may keep him. However you are still grounded for the week, and you must take care of your new pet, are we understood?"

Alfred nodded so vigorously that Alice was worried that he might give himself a concussion.

"I will, don't worry! I'm going to name him Alpha and he's going to be _awesome_! I'll walk him every single day and make sure that he has enough food and everything! You can count on me!"

Alice looked down at her elated son and sighed softly, relenting and giving him a small smile.

"All right love, but you must keep to your promise. We can help you with some things, but it is _your_ responsibility to help out and make sure that they get done."

Alfred nodded again, much too excited at this point to actually be listening to anything that she said.

"Also you…..Oh just go on outside and play with him, but be back in thirty minutes."

Alfred nodded and before they could blink he was out the door with Alpha, yelling at Matthew to join him as he played fetch with their new pet.

While the couple peered through the window Francis slyly puts an arm around his wife's waist, drawing her close.

"I am a genius, aren't I?"

"Hmph."

"I will take that as a yes, I definitely heard a yes somewhere buried in there. Somewhere underneath all that British sarcasm and wit."

He only smirked when she rolled her eyes, and simply reveled in the "praise" as he got it.  
"Yes, I suppose that this might work."

"Might?"

"….Will work…."

"You said it yourself mon amour! It _will_ work. Now that Alfred has one pet he has no need for others, and so he can just "save" his dog over and over again when he feels the urge to play hero. It is a _perfect_ plan."

"Except for when the dog chews on our pillows."

"That is only a minimal drawback, minimal mon amour."

Alice pondered for a moment and then relented.

"Alright, so we can train it….Alpha."

"You've named it."

"Excuse me?"

"You called it Alpha, that means that you are getting attached to it, and so we will not see it going anywhere anytime soon. "

"I….You're infuriating sometimes, you know that don't you?"

" _Oui"_

Only a few weeks after the incident with the dog, it was their tenth wedding anniversary and Francis was in the kitchen selecting some nice wine for them to enjoy with a nice meal, an adult movie and an empty house. It was amazing how something as simple as that could be an extremely wonderful parent's night out when you had kids. "Uncle" Gilbert had offered to take in the boys for a night so that they could have the night to themselves and they had readily agreed.

As Francis worked on getting the wine ready with two glasses he overheard Alice talking on the phone and stopped short.

"Hmm? What is it love?...He wants to take you to go see a movie?...In the morning?...Well of course you can…. You two won't be back till lunch? Yes well thank your Uncle…Alright, good night love, be good."

As Alice hung up Francis glanced at the two glasses that he had set out, and with the thought of the few extra hours in the morning he slyly smiled and just took the entire bottle with him to the living room.

Well.

She was pregnant again.

Curse him.

She thought she was done, it had been _ten_ years later but no, someone brought the whole bottle of wine.

Oh well there was no going back now, and after all, the boys were old enough to where they could at least help out some…Perhaps this was a good thing, after all, the boys also needed some responsibility, and a younger sibling would be perfect for that. The sibling would, (hopefully), instill some protectiveness into them and they might want to help with watching over them. It might even solve the spats that they were prone to get into; by having them bond over someone…

Or she was just being hopeful.

"Well they're old enough…"

"No, we are _not_ telling them yet, we will tell them that they have a sister coming and that's all for now!"

"D'accord, fine…I'll tell them in a few months, deal?"

"…Fine. Just, not when we are already telling them that they have a sister on the way."

"Oh boy, they boys are going to _love_ having a sister! We can all have a tea party!"

Alice sighed softly and observed her husband as they stood in the kitchen, speaking in hushed tone until they were ready for the boys to hear.

"…Good luck getting Alfred to play "tea", Matthew might however, as long as there's pancakes involved…he loves pancakes so much, it's a wonder that he doesn't turn into a bottle of syrup."

A small laughs greeted her and she sighed, turning to the source of the laugh.

"Well, are you ready for this?"

Francis nodded and hugged her to him, ten years had toned down the over excitement, but not the joy that came from a new baby.

"Of course, we are both ready for this mon cher. I am just amazed that after so long we get another child."

"And another round of sleepless nights…"

"Oh don't be so negative, be happy! Just think of it, a little girl that you can instill your British etiquette on Matthew and Alfred haven't quite caught on to yet…."

Alice sighed softly and nodded, coming out of his arms to dish out the vegetables and meat that they (he) had made for dinner.

"Yes, I suppose it will be nice to have a little girl, and you will finally be able to dress someone else up for a change."

"Exactly! I will have a little girl who will actually wear the poufy princess dresses I find online."

"…I hate poof.'

"Again, exactly."

Alice had to just shake her head and fill up the glasses with water as her husband set the table.  
"And what if she also hates poufy dresses?"

"Then I will just have to dress her up as much as a possible when she is a baby, like how the boys wore suits when they were babies."

Done with her task Alice looked towards the living room where the boys were playing quietly for once.

"Yes…I suppose it actually will be…Well, let's call them in then."

The boys were called in for dinner and after a quiet dinner was over Alice spoke up.

"…How do you two feel about a sister?"

At her words Matthew paled and Alfred laughed joyfully, it was not exactly the reaction she had expected from either of them. She would have thought that Matthew would be happy…He looked positively sick. However, Alfred's words caught her attention.

"So that's what you two were doing!"

"Excuse me?..."

Alice kept her face calm but gave a quick glance towards Francis who looked as surprised as she felt.  
"Yeah, you guys were calling in for her right? Something about calling in the bird thing…Stork! That's it! My teacher told me that when we were younger."

Her relief was immediate and she nodded as she started to clear off the table, Matthew still staring blankly ahead.  
"Not exactly love …Go on and play."

Alfred needed no more urging and so the couple was left with the other twin, who was looking a bit green.

"Ah, Matthew?...Are you alright my petit chou?"

They looked at their son and when he spoke Alice seemed ready for the kill, whereas Francis was a bit pale."

"That's not how Uncle Gilbert said it happened…."

Francis POV

"HE'S DEAD FRANCIS, HE'S BLOODY DEAD!"

"Mon amour please cal-"

"I'M CALLING ELIZABETHA"

With that she was gone and Francis began to very much fear for his friend's life…He told Matthew _everything_. Apparently he had some of his "adult drink" and things had slipped out. While he was more concerned about Gilbert drinking while on _babysitting duty with his sons_ , Alice seemed more concerned about the fact that Gilbert could let something slip like that…In order to possibly save his friends life he gave him a call.

"Ja?"

"Gilbert, call my wife and beg for forgiveness."

"What? What on earth are you talking about?"

"You _told_ Matthieu…."

"Oh ja, _that_. Well it's no big deal, I mean he would have learned eventually, right?"

"Oui, but my wife is _angry_."

"Oh…How angry are we talking about here?"

Francis cautiously peered into the living room where Alice was ranting to her Hungarian friend.

"….She's called _Elizabetha_ ".

"SHISSHE I AM SO DEAD DON'T TELL ME IT'S TRUE YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME SHE CAN BE TERRIFING NOT THAT I'M SCARED OF COURSE JUST A BIT CONCERNED FRANCIS! STOP HER!"

Francis had to hold the phone a bit to have endured that loud of a rant and so he peeked into the kitchen again where Alice seemed to be ranting to herself now, muttering as she paced the living room halls.

"She is pregnant, hormonal and _very_ protective of her babies….You should call her."

"…Fine."

A long phone call that mostly consisted of Alice yelling into the phone later but once that was done the crisis was averted…he hoped.


	4. Chapter 4

The years passed by the small family and each one was a new adventure, a new struggle, and a new joy.

Many, many struggles…

The children grew up and before Alice knew it the boys were in high school and their daughter, Michelle was already five years old. When the boys first saw her they knew that they would defend her, or at least that's what they proclaimed at the hospital where she was born. Despite her disbelief and much to Alice's surprise they actually were her protectors, rarely fought with her (even if they did fight with each other, almost every day), and even indulged her repeated requests for guests to her tea parties. In all, the house was well, and even though Alfred was going through a small rebellious streak, he would _surely_ grow out of soon.

The house was growing tense.

As the boys grew up more and more, Alice felt like she was slowly losing her control over one in particular, Alfred. His adventurous and helpful spirit never went away, but there was a new independent streak that was rising in him and causing tensions between the strict mother and the rebel teen. When Alice asked Alfred to come home early, he stayed late at school to play football with friends. When she asked him to do a chore, he just didn't and instead played video games. When she just wanted to _talk_ he ignored her and went to go play football or to "walk" the dog.

So she yelled, and they fought.

She hated to have to yell. She didn't want it to come to this but it seemed like this was the only way she could get him to come back to her, the only way for her to bring back the Alfred that she knew. The Alfred that did chores just to help, the Alfred that was in the house the instant that she called, The Alfred who….The Alfred who talked to her. She restricted his freedoms, as he put it, and the rest of the family could only look on as the two fought their war.

 _Friday night_

Alice glanced up anxiously at the clock and then back down at her book. Her eyes wandered over the pages uselessly skimming the words before she gave up and looked back up at the clock. Francis came up behind her and hugged her from behind.

"He will be back soon, he is only a few minutes late…This time. But you know that he always returns."

Even his unwavering enthusiasm was no match for this repeated disobedience and Francis sat beside her to observe the clock.

"Yes well you may think that but I think that Alfred is out playing that sport with his friends again…"

"Its football, the American kind."

"I know, it does not excuse him from not being here when we asked him to be. He's ignoring my calls as well."

"You…don't know that."

Alice fixed him with an incredulous look and folded her hands to keep the tremor from showing. Alfred was late, and she was getting worried, as she always did when he left like this. That worry was quick to change to anger however when Alfred walked in the door, his bag slung over his back as he tried to go to his room without having to stop by the parents.

"Alfred F. Jones…Where were you?"

Alfred stopped still and sighed, turning to them, and for his credit he did attempt a smile.

"I was just a little slow walking home, nothing to worry about. Anyway I've got homework so-"

"Don't change the topic Alfred; you are nearly an _hour_ late!"

"Yeah, _and_ I've got homework, something that I have to do."

She was so _sick_ of hearing this repeated lie; over and over again this was his excuse to leave right in the middle of their conversation.

"Homework? Homework? When was the last time you actually turned anything in?!"

Alice realized that already she was raising her voice and she forced herself to stop, she was just so tired of these arguments, she seemed to have a shorter and shorter temper with each one.

"Love, we just want you to do well in school, and _not_ stay out without letting us know that you will be late. Where were you anyway?"

Alfred sighed and looked towards Francis for help but in this he was Alice's ally, not his, and so he was forced to answer her.

"I was just out playing sports, you know, getting exercise like my body needs. I thought that you would understand, you know, being a nurse and all."

There it was, that snarky remark dripping with disrespect that only a teenager could inflict.

"Don't assume that I'm stupid Alfred, I am the adult here. You skipped school again didn't you?! You skipped school and left to go play football! Why can't you just focus for once instead of goofing around!"

Alfred's hands were twitching and her voice had steadily grown louder, not yet at a yell but the warning signs were there.

"Maybe I don't like school! Maybe I want to do something I'm good at instead of being stuck in a place where everyone tells me that I'm an idiot!"

"Alfred you are _not_ an idiot! Maybe if you actually turned in your work this wouldn't happen…"

Alice regretted those words but they flew out. Ever since middle school the students and even some of the teachers had called Alfred an idiot, but she knew that he wasn't. He had such a passion for inventions, space, football, military history; it's just that those subjects are only glanced over in schools. So Alfred was seen as an idiot.

She had just told him that it was his fault.

"It's not MY FAULT! Maybe I just got your genes! Maybe you're the one that's an idiot; after all you haven't even noticed that I'm trying to get away from you all! I'M MOVING OUT!"

The house froze and Alice blinked, her mind processing what he had just said.

"What? You're… You can't leave! Alfred don't be ridiculous, you're far too young to leave the house! It's not even legal!"

"Why not? I have friends! I can leave this stupid house, I can leave _you_!"

The you. The you stabbed her and made her resolve even stronger. She didn't show how much it affected her but that simple three letter word had been like a bullet to the heart, yet it also fueled her anger.

"Why do you want to leave?! Don't you… Don't you love your family!"

Alfred's face softened for a moment before it became steely again.

"When I was little I thought that you were great. Now you're just controlling. I can't seem to do anything right! I can't do anything to please you, nothing that I enjoy is important enough for you!"

"You know that's not true! I just want you to-"

"Be a success, I know! But nothing that I ever will do will be enough! I'm not perfect like _Matthew."_

"Alfred now you're just being ridiculous. Just. Just go on to your room."

"No! Not until you admit it! You both like Matthew better! He's the _good_ one, he's the _smart_ one, he's the one who doesn't sneak out to play football!"

Alice clenched her fist, trying to remain calm.

"Alfred go on to bed. "

"Matthew is the one you love more, or Michelle. You just won't admit it."

"Alfred-"

"I'm sorry that I can't be perfect like Matthew ok. I'm sorry that I can't be the good child. I'm sorry that you have forgotten what it was like to be like me! I'm sorry that you forgot that your own parents weren't around."

Alice's knuckles were white now and Francis's face was pale, only just now getting a word in now that a deathly quiet had settled in.

"Alfred go…Just…Go on… We all just need to calm down."

"No! It'd not my fault that she's forgotten that she was just like me! That she rebelled because her parents left-"

"ALFRED LEAVE NOW."

Alice exploded and screamed, startling the rest of the onlookers and Alfred. Alfred's face steeled once again and he left the living room, slamming the door to his room until it thundered in the now quiet house.

Matthew peeked his head out of the kitchen to only go back in there where Michelle's crying could now be heard.

Francis walked over to her and set his hand in hers, loosening it from its clenched state and holding it in his own.

"Let's go for a drive, to calm you down. Come on, Alfred is not really going to leave. You just need a break….We all need a break. "

Alice nodded mutely and gathered her purse while Francis informed Matthew of their "break" and then joined her in walking outside. The air was brisk and chill, making Alice realize how hot her face had gotten, and how red from anger it must have been. They didn't say a word, only climbed into the car, turned on the headlights and then drove off down the dark road.

Francis fiddled with the radio absently until he reached the opera station. He let the voice of the singer fill the car for a few seconds until he spoke up.

"You know Alfred didn't mean all that… He still loves you, of course he does. He's just a teenager, he will come out of this phase soon…"

Alice stared at the road ahead, her eyes tracing the yellow strip as they flew past.

"Mon cher? Please say something…"

Alice lolled her head up and looked at him with a heavy sigh, her brow pinched.

"He brought up my parents. I yelled at him, told him that it was his fault that the others call him an idiot… What was I thinking?! Have we ever made it seem that we like Matthew more? Have I ever made him feel like he wasn't perfect! I'm scared of how much he is changing, he was so perfect, and he was our boy. Now he won't even listen to me…I only ground him to try…To try and bring back our Alfred…"

Francis looked at her and stared into her eyes.

"Mon cher you are wrong on all accounts. You can't….You can't try to control him so much, that's why he's revolting. You have had your say in punishing him, now it is my turn to take the lead. You two argue too much to ever actually change behavior. He only wants to rebel against you, you know that. He can never be the same boy again, he has grown up you know. He has changed, and you must understand that."

"Don't tell me that you are on his side!"

"I am on both of your sides, just let me try mon amour. Just let me try."

Alice thought for a moment as the music turned shrill with the singing of the opera singer.  
"Fine I suppose you can try to help us in our little "war". But be warned he's quite-"

Alice's voice was cut off by the screeching of tires, the shrill voice of the opera singer mingling with her own scream and the last thing she felt was Francis's arm frantically slinging across her chest to try and stop her momentum that was ready to hurl her through the window.

Matthew had finally gotten Michelle back to bed after much sobbing on her part and seemingly endless reciting of stories on his.

He was exhausted, in every possible way, Michelle wasn't even what made him tired anymore, and she was a child! _Those two_ always fought, and he always felt torn between his mother and his brother. What could he do when Alfred brought him up in his arguments? Matthew knew that he felt like that, but what could he do about it? He always tried to be nice to Alfred, but that just increased the idea that Matthew was "the good one", the golden child, the "perfect" one…. He was just lucky that Alfred never seemed mad at him specifically, just their mother. But then again, he had to endure their arguments, which was nearly as bad as being the one yelled at.

Matthew sighed heavily and stood up, with the full intention of making himself some ice cream and maple syrup when the phone cut through the still air. Matthew groaned loudly, peeved at the interruption and reluctantly answered it.

A voice he had never heard before informed him of something he couldn't believe.

Wouldn't believe.

Michelle was rushed out of her room, confused from just falling asleep and then rather suddenly being woken up again, Alfred ran faster than Matthew had ever seen to the car where Uncle Gilbert and Uncle Antonio were waiting. They were all going so fast, too fast, very fast, and yet.

Slow.

Things were passing by in a crazed haze leaving Matthew feeling like a kid caught in the ocean again, just like when he was younger and they had gone to the beach. He was being pushed, pulled; spun, beat, going in so many directions that he didn't know which way was up. All he wanted was some sense in all of this. He wanted things to slow down, to take shape, to make sense but all he could see were blurrily outlines.

They stormed the hospital's halls and all Matthew could think of was how much hospital smelled like funeral homes, that same sickly clean smell that sticks to you even after you leave.

If Matthew was going through the storming waves than Alfred was in the eye of the hurricane. Everything was clear to him, deathly clear.

He had gotten upset at Alice, his mother.

They had argued.

Alice and Francis left the house.

They were slammed by a truck where the driver had gotten too tired to function and just didn't stop.

It was so simple.

Yet, the storm was waging around him.

Matthew was in disbelief, their uncles were pale from fear and Michelle kept on asking what was going on.

Didn't they see?

Didn't they understand?

Once when Alfred was young his friend had told him that God punishes bad children, he didn't believe it back then.

Now he did.

Gilbert stared at his hands as they all waited in the waiting room, the boys seemed too caught in their own minds, neither of them were talking and Gilbert was in no shape to force them too. All they knew was that there had been an accident, one of their friends was "badly injured".

That's all they knew, and who could he hope was fine and who was the one that was hurt? How could he hope that his best friend was fine when it would mean that the kids would _lose_ a mother? But then how could he not hope for his best friend to be ok? Gilberts head flew into his hands swiftly and he just listened to Antonio soft singing in Spanish, his vain attempt at trying to comfort the crying Michelle. Somehow even a five year old knew the gravity of the situation enough to sob until they arrived at the hospital, and not stop the whole wait.

The hour ticked by and a solemn nurse, one of Alice's coworkers, entered the nearly empty waiting room. She searched for the small group and somehow levitated five people with a single wave of her hand, compelling them all to follow her without even a word. Antonio carried Michelle in his arms but when they arrived at the room she leapt out of his hands at her own danger and ran to her parent's side, not minding the wires and tubes as she hugged Francis and then Alice before being swept up by a nurse so as to not hurt the patients more by letting the child hug all over them.

The storm finally cleared for Matthew as he looked at his parents. The truck must have slammed into the driver's side, Francis was the one…He was the one "badly injured". Alice was bruised along her face, her nose was broken and swelled, her eyes were black and it seemed like she had a concussion from the way she couldn't seem to focus on anything for more than one second, she eventually just fell asleep but that wasn't what made Matthew clutch his stomach to keep the bile from rising. Alice was strong, she had been through worse. Not all at once of course, but she would be fine.

Francis.

His father.

Busted lip, bruises, deathly pale skin, swelled forehead, bandaged chest, broken nose, the list of injuries seemed to go on and on. The worst thing though was the beeping of the heart monitor. Matthew wanted to scream at it to hurry up, to get faster, and to urge his heart to pump faster. The beeping of the heart monitor was just slowly tolling out the heart beats.

Matthew looked at the nurse and she finally spoke up to all of him.

"He is…He has bleeding in his brain, he's going into a coma…Sleeping. He's conscious now so please…Tell him what you want…..You…You might want to…To hurry."

Michelle finally stopped crying long enough to look at Matthew before being led out of the room, or rather dragged out. Outside her sobs were heard once again and the twins knew they only had a short few minutes before she would have an utter meltdown with the stranger.

She needed them.

Matthew walked over before grabbing Alfred forcibly by the shoulder and dragging him over as well.

"….Dad?...Francis?... _Sil vous plait_ …."

Francis's eyes slowly edged open and he managed a small cracked lip smile.

"Bien…You…Remembered…"

His eyes drifted over to the door and even though he winced, even though his breath was laboring he shifted up to look to the door.

"Is that…Michelle…Is she….hurt?"

"…Non papa. She's fine. Just….Upset…"

Francis slowly shifted back and nodded before wincing.

"I…thought so…How are…you two…How's Alice?"

His eyes searched for her and even though it obviously hurt to turn his head he did and his gaze softened at the sight of his sleeping wife, relatively unharmed.

"Mom's fine. We're…We're ok."

Liar.

Alice's voice flashed through his mind " _never tell a lie love_."

Too late for that now.

Francis looked at them slowly and let out a small huff of air, something he probably could not afford at this point.

"What…did…your mother…tell you about…lying?"

Matthew's chest deflated and he sat down beside Francis's bed, Alfred joined him, and sitting down heavily, his legs almost seemed to give out beneath him.

"…I'm sorry…"

Francis chuckled softly, even though the sound was choked, and nearly imitated that of an old man's.

"You are…Forgiven…Matthew…Alfred…I love you…two…Tell Alice that…I love her...Now…Your sister…Needs her…Go and be….The wonderful…brothers that…you two are."

"Bu-"

"We've always…taught you to…obey your parents…so go on…now."

Matthew somehow forced his legs to move and obey this order, forced Alfred out of the room and forced himself to lie to Michelle.

"Dad's going to be fine….Come on he's just…falling asleep soon…"

Gilbert eyed his friend as he and Antonio edged closer, making the trio complete. Antonio just muttered soft prayers in Spanish; his hands were clutching an old rosary so hard that the beads were leaving white imprints on his hands. The beeping of the heart monitor got louder but slower, sounding like slamming against wood somehow to Gilbert's distressed and exhausted mind.

"Francis...I'm sorry that I told Matthew about where babies come from…."

Francis looked at his lifelong friend and began to laugh a choking, gurgling laugh that made him sound like he was drowning.

"THUNK"….Beep.

"You….You didn't,….Have to apologize…For that…." Suddenly his face grew grim and he choked up. "Mon…Dieu….I won't…Get to tell Michelle…I won't get…To walk her down….The aisle….I won't see…"

THUNK….Beep.

"Matthew and Alfred….Graduate…"

Gilbert walked closer looking down as his friends voice grew softer and weaker, Antonio's voice only got stronger and more urgent, trying to force every prayer out and hoping desperately for a miracle that wouldn't come.

"Please….Gilbert…Make sure that…Michelle…..Make sure….she…goes to…college…That she… has a nice…dress for…wedding…, and her partner…..is good to…her.

"Don't worry, between Elizabeta, Alice and I we can take down anyone stupid enough to hurt your kids."

THUNK.

"Merci…..and Alfred, Matthew….Make sure…they're ok and…go to…college. Find someone..they love as well…"

"I will."

The shrill beeping filled the air and Gilbert could hear the final slamming noise, he knew it now. It was a nail being beaten into the wood.

No.

A coffin.

THUNK .

Four nails to seal up a coffin, four minutes for Francis to be ready for his.


	5. Chapter 5

One minute Alice was in the car, rambling on to her husband about their rebellious son, and the next thing she knew there was a shrill ringing was in her ears that would _not_ cease. The air had the familiar sterile smell that clung to the inside of her nose and she knew that she was in a hospital, how she got there she simply couldn't remember, it was all a black blur.

She could hear but her eyelids were like lead, they were far too heavy to open even just a bit and so she sat and listened for a moment, oddly calm. There was the soft murmur of Spanish; someone else was speaking in a harsh, demanding voice, and someone was pacing across the tile floor in heavy boots that made a sharp clap as they passed back and forth across the bed beside her.

"All right guys, let's call it. Time of death is twenty two o' hundred hours, time to clean up."

Alice wasn't entirely sure of who was beside her but she felt sympathy automatically for their family, she was used to being the one to console the family after a death, being the most calm and collected nurse. Her curiosity got the better of her and she forced her leaden eyes open and slowly slung her head over to the side, her hearing was crystal clear even though her eye sight was blurry.

"She's waking up! Shisse! Cover him up won't you?!"

One of her coworkers went over to her bed and automatically started to restrain her as her eyes finally cleared up and she got a clear view of the person they had just coded.

A quick flash of blond hair, a glimpse of a wedding ring and a nose that poked through the sheet was enough for her confirmation.

"OH GOD FRANCIS!"

A sob threated to choke her and her coworker worked hard to keep her on the bed.

"Alice please calm down! You can see him once they've cleaned him up, calm down! You're going to bust a suture!"

Alice's IV tumbled to the ground and splattered blood everywhere as she tried to reach for her husband as they wheeled him away, Antonio and Gilbert joined the nurses in keeping her down as she took deep breaths of air as black dots formed in her eyes.

They were wrong, they had to be. He couldn't leave her, couldn't leave their family. Not when they had two teenagers and one five year old, he _wouldn't_ leave them.

She wouldn't let him.

That thought sank heavily on her mind as her vision faded to black and the arms on her slackened.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 _ **Four days later**_

She had to trudge on; the only thing for her to do now was to trudge on through life. Already as she walked with her children in black clothes to _his_ funeral she felt things slipping out of her hands. Michelle wouldn't stop crying and kept on asking why her papa wasn't home from the hospital yet, Matthew seemed to close in on himself even more than before and just stopped responding to _anyone_ , and Alfred just kept on doing every chore available.

He had already quit football after the news ofhisdeath and she even found him doing laundry at three in the morning after she had come home from the hospital, it was like he was trying to just be the _perfect_ son now. Even now as they walked down to the funeral Alfred was fussing over Michelle's hair, trying to make it perfect for her. He was horrible at it, but he was trying and even if Alice tried to help he would refuse, insisting that he _had_ to help out. She had her perfect son back now, yet she could only feel regret for this new change in him.

They all milled inside the small church that the couple had been married in and Alice looked around at all the people who were attending. Coworkers who seemed to actually care, those who came out of mere obligation, friends, family and then his closest family, them, the small group of a single mother with three children.

Alice went through the motions of going up to the closed casket, setting down flowers that he would have hated, they were not her choice of course, and then went back to her seat, honestly just numb inside, nothing was truly registering. She only just managed to notice that Michelle started to cry halfway through the service and had to console her, along with Alfred of course.  
A mumbled prayer later and they went to see the casket buried, Michelle crying the whole time, yelling about how her papa was just sleeping, why were they putting him in the ground?

She wished that he could have the innocence of a child.

 _ **Fifty years later**_

She got "over" his death; she had to for the children, but never forgot him, and never remarried. Life slowly returned to semi-state of normalcy and the children grew up fine. After a while life just became a series of tasks for her to finish.

She went to the boy's graduation, Alfred having pulled up his grades astoundingly and he even knew what he wanted to do now. He would become a cop, and Matthew of course wanted to become a doctor. Francis would have been proud.

Then she went to Michelle's graduation, Michelle at that time had mostly grown up without her father and with little memory of him. She went to college for marine biology. Francis would have been ecstatic, insisting that they let her go to the beach even more for research.

To the college graduations, where she saw each of her children grow up to become exactly what they wished to be. Francis would have cried his eyes out for joy.

To each of their weddings, Francis would have been proud of the people they choose to live with for the rest of their lives. Antonio and Gilbert had held up each of their promises and they made sure the boys and Michelle were decent on their wedding day, like Francis wished.

To the grandbabies births, Francis would have cried if he had gotten the chance to hold the newborns that carried on their blond hair, and one with blue eyes.

To the grandchildren's graduations, Francis would have been proud but also by this point worrying about his grey hairs, or the ones that was spread out across Alice's head.

She was old now.

It was odd, being old that is. No one was left to help her with chores and the day that she couldn't do her chores anymore she decided to go to a nursing home, willingly of course. No one could have forced the stubborn old woman to do anything. Her kids visited often, and she preferred it anyway. There she was alone, and all she had to do was her crafts...

She was so tired. The days since Francis had passed so slowly and she just longed to see him again.

This old woman life just wasn't for her; she was ready to move on already. She dared to say that she was bored. For another, how could she be scared to move on when Francis had already gone ahead?

 _The nursing home found her later; she had passed away peacefully in her sleep. She was clutching a picture of her late husband with a smile on her face. One would have thought she was having a peaceful dream._


End file.
